FINRA barred former MML Investor Services, Inc. broker Benjamin Martin Feibish after discovering that Feibish had developed a scheme with the goal of misappropriating more than $5 million from an elderly customer by investing her funds in fictitious securities. Feibish was also charged with the forgery of two of the customer's relatives.
According to the investigation, in 1999, Feibish began creating false promissory notes through a company he established, evidencing a purported interest in mortgage backed securities.
FINRA believes that in June 1999, Feibish persuaded his elderly client to purchase one of these false promissory notes, selling the customer a total of 40 false notes between 1999 and February 2011.
Investigators also found evidence of false documentation regarding mortgage backed securities and IRS 1099 forms, which Feibish allegedly used to convince his client that she was invested with a legitimate enterprise.
During this same period, Feibish caused checks to be issued from his company's bank to his customer, falsely informing his client that these checks were interest payments from the investments when, instead, Feibish was simply returning his customer's own money.
Feibish also allegedly persuaded his customer to reinvest the "interest" funds in other fake vehicles, forging the names of his customer and two of her relatives in order to open trust accounts in their names.
Once these accounts were open, Feibish once again allegedly arranged for payments under the false guise of "interest" or "proceeds" when the payments were instead the return of the customers' own funds.
Feibish also allegedly managed two insurance plans on his elderly customer's behalf, with relatives listed as beneficiaries. FINRA found that Feibish had not only forged their signatures here too, but also borrowed nearly $280,000 against them.
Investigators charged Feibish with providing false documentation—including promissory notes—to his customer, falsified account statements and misappropriating over $5 million from his client.
Feibish's insurance producer license was revoked in relation to this present case. In that decision, Hearing Officers at the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation determined Feibish had improperly misappropriated and converted money, committed an insurance unfair trade practice and fraud and forged another's name to a document in violation of state law.
If you have invested with Martin Benjamin Feibish or with any broker or firm who you believe has engaged in willful misconduct such as the creation of fake investment vehicles and such fraudulent malpractice has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.